Sinister Sample Lady

I would assume the samples were not ready, as they had to cool a bit.
Should you have burned your mouth you would probably have then written
a nasty letter complaining that the demo failed to stop you in time to
prevent a heat injury to your mouth. ??????

This is a complaint from a nonpaying customer that didn't want to wait
for the free sample. OK, got it.

To avoid contamination, the rest of us would appreciate it if you did
not reach beyond the plastic divider.

The OP admits that she made a mistake.

However, the sample lady should not have smacked her hand.

Here is the reality - she has chosen a position in the service
industry. With that comes the expectation that she maintain her own
professionalism, even if she is faced with a customer who does
something wrong. Of course there are limits, but not every single
situation where a customer makes a bad decision is outside of those
limits.

When I make statements here that land on the sideof the customer, even
when the customer has done something wrong, it is with more than 20
years of retail management experience behind them. There isn't much I
haven't seen or experienced.

No, the customer isn't always right, but situations have to be looked
at from their perspective.

I would terminate this employee. I would consider her lucky that the
customer didn't make a bigger deal at the time, after she slapped her
hand - which could be considered battery, regardless of the womans
intent. Clearly the slap was unwelcome.

Nobody said her hand was possessed when she reached in - that does not
excuse the conduct of the employee.

No, the employee does not have to put up with ANY treatment from a
customer, but as far as putting up with an impatient one - yes, she
does. If she can't, that doesn't make her a bad person, but it doesn
make her a bad fit for a service position and she should move on.

And if you teeth grind because of the statement that she is
representing her company, I don't really understand that. Like it or
not, she is, and that's the truth. If she wants to run around
slapping rude people on her own time, so be it - I would love to hear
how that works out for her, but when she is at work, act like a grown
up.

And yes, it is inconceivable that you could find a way to defend her
actions.

"You chose your job," as an excuse to force them to put up with
abuse.


It's the war cry of many a patron who feels the employee is a personal
punching bag and has no rights to be treated with respect.

It's amazing how we are now. Our economy is struggling, people are
out of work, customers want more and more while businesses supply less
and less to cut costs. It's so bad now we even complain about stuff
that someone gives us for FREE! I can't imagine what would have
happened if this happened with something that had to be paid for. TTT
- we'll all be ok.

You make a valid point about patience and I did admit reponsibility
for that in my initial letter. The samples were on the back of the
table with no signage telling me not to touch behind the small
divider. The point here is that while my actions may have been hasty
there is never any reason for any employee to hit a customer on the
hand.

"While I may be wrong to reach over this board for a sample"


You're complaining about the employee's "lack of restraint"... while
you couldn't restrain yourself from reaching into the food prep area
to grab samples.


Clearly you could have just asked her for a sample. But you reached
into the prep area, helped yourself, and then ... SHE was the one at
fault cos she called you out on it?

I was hoping that something "sinister" had actually happened.

I have to say, this is one of the best letter titles here ever!

So you're admitting to the store that you don't have a membership but
you use a friend's instead of having your own? I don't think they'll
be too inclined to do much.

I believe that the people handing out the samples are not employees of
the store. The store manager should be able to provide you with the
name of the company that is in charge of them.